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Dispatches From The Cowgirl
Would you move to Africa?
For Julie Tully, a cowgirl who married a United States naval officer, the answer was a no-brainer: Yes!
Leaving her career and everything she knew behind to follow her husband, Julie was rapidly approaching forty and wondering, "What is my place in the world?" Enter Africa, the continent she had dreamed of since childhood, a chance to reinvigorate her life. A supposed two-year assignment for her family in Sub-Saharan Africa soon turns into an eight-year adventure in Cameroon, Nigeria, and Djibouti and sees Julie become an unofficial diplomat as wife to a military attaché. In a world where diplomacy is key, Julie becomes the person she was meant to be.
Julie's memoir is a real-life Alice in Wonderland tale. A cowgirl falls into Africa like Alice fell into Wonderland, taking you on a voyage of discovery and into the little-known world of an American military spouse serving amongst the world's diplomatic corps. One moment, you'll laugh out loud as Julie takes her first step onto the African continent and begins setting up their home in Cameroon. The next, you'll gasp in shock as a terrorist bomb shakes their house in Nigeria.
Part travelogue, and part midlife coming-of-age story, Dispatches from the Cowgirl takes you to the Africa that Julie experienced. Complete with all its beauty and flaws, it's the Africa that continues to capture the attention of the world's military powers and the Africa she struggled to say goodbye to.
For Julie Tully, a cowgirl who married a United States naval officer, the answer was a no-brainer: Yes!
Leaving her career and everything she knew behind to follow her husband, Julie was rapidly approaching forty and wondering, "What is my place in the world?" Enter Africa, the continent she had dreamed of since childhood, a chance to reinvigorate her life. A supposed two-year assignment for her family in Sub-Saharan Africa soon turns into an eight-year adventure in Cameroon, Nigeria, and Djibouti and sees Julie become an unofficial diplomat as wife to a military attaché. In a world where diplomacy is key, Julie becomes the person she was meant to be.
Julie's memoir is a real-life Alice in Wonderland tale. A cowgirl falls into Africa like Alice fell into Wonderland, taking you on a voyage of discovery and into the little-known world of an American military spouse serving amongst the world's diplomatic corps. One moment, you'll laugh out loud as Julie takes her first step onto the African continent and begins setting up their home in Cameroon. The next, you'll gasp in shock as a terrorist bomb shakes their house in Nigeria.
Part travelogue, and part midlife coming-of-age story, Dispatches from the Cowgirl takes you to the Africa that Julie experienced. Complete with all its beauty and flaws, it's the Africa that continues to capture the attention of the world's military powers and the Africa she struggled to say goodbye to.
- GenresMemoirNonfictionAfrica
300 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 13, 2022
25 people are currently reading
50 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
May 2, 2025
My very dear friend Quinn is in this because his mom is THEE Julie Tully.
The first thing she told me was to read it without telling him and just randomly drop facts. So yes, she’s just as hilarious in real life.
Present day Quinn told me he’d buy me as many books as I wanted with his adult money in order to move Dispatches from the Cowgirl down my TBR. I guess comedy runs in the family.
What a joy to know people who are this cool, highly recommended taking a stroll into Julie’s mind (in cowboy boots, of course).
The first thing she told me was to read it without telling him and just randomly drop facts. So yes, she’s just as hilarious in real life.
Present day Quinn told me he’d buy me as many books as I wanted with his adult money in order to move Dispatches from the Cowgirl down my TBR. I guess comedy runs in the family.
What a joy to know people who are this cool, highly recommended taking a stroll into Julie’s mind (in cowboy boots, of course).
September 13, 2022
How I wish I had Julie Tully’s Dispatches from the Cowgirl to prepare me for my own military family adventures overseas! Tully’s light touch, startling humor, and keen insights are a joy to read. From calculating how many jars of peanut butter to pack for a year, to juggling worries about deadly snakes, potential terrorist attacks, and police shake downs, Tully’s memoir will resonate with all readers, both civilian and military, wherever they might find themselves in this far-flung world.
September 10, 2022
Julie Tully has spent most of her married life overseas. Several,of,those years were in Africa. It was interesting to read about her experiences in Cameroon and Nigeria. I loved Charlie and Stella, the two tortoises, she had to wrangle to do laundry in Cameroon.
It’s an interesting addition to life in the military and overseas.
Thanks to W. Brand Publishing and Edelweiss for early read.
It’s an interesting addition to life in the military and overseas.
Thanks to W. Brand Publishing and Edelweiss for early read.
November 5, 2022
So good. Highly recommended.
August 20, 2022
I laughed, I cried, I smiled and shook my head. Never have I identified more with a book. Julie said “home was becoming bigger and bigger the more we moved”. “Home was right where we sat. Home was just a memory that had no measurable distance. We missed home. And also we didn’t miss it.” These words hit home like no other words I’ve ever read before. The life we live is so similar to Julie’s yet different in many ways. But this is how we feel about home. Having moved 9 times in 15 years, I felt this book to my soul. I loved hearing about Africa and all her families adventures.
Thank you for this book, these words, sharing all your memories. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book early. I am honored to have read this and can’t wait to gift it and push it into all my friend’s hands.
Thank you for this book, these words, sharing all your memories. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book early. I am honored to have read this and can’t wait to gift it and push it into all my friend’s hands.
November 22, 2022
This was an exceptional book! Kept me reading throughout. I really enjoyed reading about not only Julie Tully’s Africa but also about the lifestyle and responsibilities that this military family had there. Very interesting.
February 9, 2024
Very relevant to our family as we will be living in Africa next! Great stories and insight.
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May 4, 2023MWSA Review
Dispatches from the Cowgirl: Through the Looking Glass with a Navy Diplomat’s Wife by Julie Tully is an engaging read from beginning to end. In letters written to family and friends, Tully showed them, in vivid detail, places they would most likely never see. Entries from her diary and those letters she wrote grew into this memoir.
Julie Tully was born into a cattle ranching family in northern California. For more than a third of her life she worked the cattle or marketed the beef. Tully explains, “I am a girl of the land who married a man of the sea.” From her perspective, she writes of extraordinary events and everyday life during her time as a military spouse in Africa.
To Julie, the diplomatic post is more than a job. She and husband John actively immerse themselves in the customs of the country. In short, they bloom where they are planted. Following the example his parents set for him, their young son Quinn spends his early school years learning to speak French and making friends with other expat children and locals who staff the embassy in which they live. A supposed two-year assignment for her family in Sub-Saharan Africa soon turns into an eight-year adventure in Cameroon, Nigeria, and Djibouti. In a world where diplomacy is key, Julie Tully, in her cowboy boots, charms the embassy staff and foreign diplomats in every assignment with her genuine demeanor.
Looking back over the words she wrote, Julie Tully sees a big picture of how she found purpose as the spouse of a diplomat in Africa after leaving her career to become a full-time mom and a traveling Navy spouse. She quotes Lewis Carroll, who writes in Alice in Wonderland: “Actually, the best gift you could have given her was a lifetime of adventure.”
Review by Nancy Panko (February 2023)
Dispatches from the Cowgirl: Through the Looking Glass with a Navy Diplomat’s Wife by Julie Tully is an engaging read from beginning to end. In letters written to family and friends, Tully showed them, in vivid detail, places they would most likely never see. Entries from her diary and those letters she wrote grew into this memoir.
Julie Tully was born into a cattle ranching family in northern California. For more than a third of her life she worked the cattle or marketed the beef. Tully explains, “I am a girl of the land who married a man of the sea.” From her perspective, she writes of extraordinary events and everyday life during her time as a military spouse in Africa.
To Julie, the diplomatic post is more than a job. She and husband John actively immerse themselves in the customs of the country. In short, they bloom where they are planted. Following the example his parents set for him, their young son Quinn spends his early school years learning to speak French and making friends with other expat children and locals who staff the embassy in which they live. A supposed two-year assignment for her family in Sub-Saharan Africa soon turns into an eight-year adventure in Cameroon, Nigeria, and Djibouti. In a world where diplomacy is key, Julie Tully, in her cowboy boots, charms the embassy staff and foreign diplomats in every assignment with her genuine demeanor.
Looking back over the words she wrote, Julie Tully sees a big picture of how she found purpose as the spouse of a diplomat in Africa after leaving her career to become a full-time mom and a traveling Navy spouse. She quotes Lewis Carroll, who writes in Alice in Wonderland: “Actually, the best gift you could have given her was a lifetime of adventure.”
Review by Nancy Panko (February 2023)
October 7, 2022
Fascinating story!
As a new FAO military spouse, this was a phenomenal glimpse into the world I’ll soon enter. Julie tells her story in such a way I was enticed to discover her next adventure. This book is a great read for any American expats too, as our story details may be different, and yet many of the feelings in our experiences are relatable.
As a new FAO military spouse, this was a phenomenal glimpse into the world I’ll soon enter. Julie tells her story in such a way I was enticed to discover her next adventure. This book is a great read for any American expats too, as our story details may be different, and yet many of the feelings in our experiences are relatable.
July 17, 2023
For those of you who have lived, worked, or adventured overseas, you will laugh, cry, and roll your eyes in sisterly solidarity at Julie’s tales from the trail. Told through the lens of a navy wife, mother, and adventurous soul, Dispatches from the Cowgirl follows Julie’s path from Northern California to Europe to Africa and back. I loved this book, please add it to your summer reading list!
November 24, 2022
Such an interesting read! I only wish there were pictures included with some of her stories.
March 15, 2023
Interesting as it was recommended to my daughter. Her husband has become a member of the military diplomatic corps.
October 3, 2024
From the moment I read the last page in Julie Tully’s Dispatches From the Cowgirl: Through The Looking Glass With A Navy Diplomat’s Wife, one thought crossed my mind, I have never been to Africa, but I already miss it. That’s the kind of impact Julie’s story had on me. Once I started reading her book, a part of me felt like I was an invisible traveler tagging along with Julie, her Navy husband, John, and their son, Quinn.
The family was stationed in Germany when Julie’s husband got orders to Africa. Unlike most assignments, where the family would relocate to a military installation with a well-stocked commissary and exchange, and a good Department of Defense school, The Tully family had to prepare to live in compounds, homes walled off with security fences and guards, or in housing provided inside embassy grounds.
Lots of planning went into their first move to Cameroon. After Cameroon they moved to Nigeria, then Djibouti (pronounced juh-boo-tee) for their third and final assignment in Africa. All in all, they spent over ten years living in Africa before John got reassigned to Italy then back to the states.
In straightforward prose, Julie pulled me right in with her friendly conversational style. Every time I opened the book, I looked forward to spending time with my new friend. (We did eventually meet in person recently at the MWSA annual conference in San Diego.)
I learned quickly that Julie is as comfortable riding horseback and rounding up cattle––she grew up on a working ranch in northern California––as she is donning elegant evening gowns and hostess slacks and entertaining dignitaries at formal diplomatic dinners. She did all this while she homeschooled her young son when traditional classrooms and schools weren’t an option.
She will tell you she’s no superwoman. She’s just Julie and that’s how she wants to be known. Despite all the dignitaries she and her husband met and worked with during their time in Africa, the author doesn’t put on airs in her story or in real life.
Reading Julie’s book made me feel young again. I imagined I was headed off with my own young family to parts unknown, courtesy the United States military, to foreign places that promised intrigue and adventure. Something to write home about. And that’s exactly what Julie did, she kept journals and wrote letters, little vignettes about daily life in Africa she shared with friends and family. Then she transformed all those stories into one smooth narrative that lifted me out of my reading chair and straight to Africa.
Noted author Siobhan Fallon, who’s followed her own Army husband around the world, endorsed Julie’s book and said, “How I wish I had Julie Tully’s Dispatches From the Cowgirl, to prepare me for my own military family adventures overseas!”
There’s an adage in the military that goes something like this: when an active duty service member gets married and has a supportive spouse, the military gets two for the price of one. In Julie and John Tully’s case, the Navy got two diplomats instead.
You do not need to have any ties to the military to enjoy this book. I highly recommend it to anyone who’s interested in other cultures and places around the world.
The family was stationed in Germany when Julie’s husband got orders to Africa. Unlike most assignments, where the family would relocate to a military installation with a well-stocked commissary and exchange, and a good Department of Defense school, The Tully family had to prepare to live in compounds, homes walled off with security fences and guards, or in housing provided inside embassy grounds.
Lots of planning went into their first move to Cameroon. After Cameroon they moved to Nigeria, then Djibouti (pronounced juh-boo-tee) for their third and final assignment in Africa. All in all, they spent over ten years living in Africa before John got reassigned to Italy then back to the states.
In straightforward prose, Julie pulled me right in with her friendly conversational style. Every time I opened the book, I looked forward to spending time with my new friend. (We did eventually meet in person recently at the MWSA annual conference in San Diego.)
I learned quickly that Julie is as comfortable riding horseback and rounding up cattle––she grew up on a working ranch in northern California––as she is donning elegant evening gowns and hostess slacks and entertaining dignitaries at formal diplomatic dinners. She did all this while she homeschooled her young son when traditional classrooms and schools weren’t an option.
She will tell you she’s no superwoman. She’s just Julie and that’s how she wants to be known. Despite all the dignitaries she and her husband met and worked with during their time in Africa, the author doesn’t put on airs in her story or in real life.
Reading Julie’s book made me feel young again. I imagined I was headed off with my own young family to parts unknown, courtesy the United States military, to foreign places that promised intrigue and adventure. Something to write home about. And that’s exactly what Julie did, she kept journals and wrote letters, little vignettes about daily life in Africa she shared with friends and family. Then she transformed all those stories into one smooth narrative that lifted me out of my reading chair and straight to Africa.
Noted author Siobhan Fallon, who’s followed her own Army husband around the world, endorsed Julie’s book and said, “How I wish I had Julie Tully’s Dispatches From the Cowgirl, to prepare me for my own military family adventures overseas!”
There’s an adage in the military that goes something like this: when an active duty service member gets married and has a supportive spouse, the military gets two for the price of one. In Julie and John Tully’s case, the Navy got two diplomats instead.
You do not need to have any ties to the military to enjoy this book. I highly recommend it to anyone who’s interested in other cultures and places around the world.
September 22, 2022
The writing and storytelling of Dispatches From the Cowgirl by Julie Tully is so strong and riveting that I was only able to set the book down once before fully devouring it.
As an expat myself, I connected with so many points of Tully's telling of life overseas. However, she had the added title of Navy diplomat wife to amp up her experiences in Africa. She recalled her families time in Cameroon, Nigeria, and Djibouti with such care and detail that I felt as if I were there. (But thankful to be in an air-conditioned home.)
Tully's love for all of her "homes" fills every page, and the book acts as a love letter to Africa. It was a delight to read and left me wanting to take an international flight.
As an expat myself, I connected with so many points of Tully's telling of life overseas. However, she had the added title of Navy diplomat wife to amp up her experiences in Africa. She recalled her families time in Cameroon, Nigeria, and Djibouti with such care and detail that I felt as if I were there. (But thankful to be in an air-conditioned home.)
Tully's love for all of her "homes" fills every page, and the book acts as a love letter to Africa. It was a delight to read and left me wanting to take an international flight.
October 1, 2023
I don't usually read books like this but somehow this one intrigued me, and I'm so glad I listened. The author has a fantastic way of bringing you into her world. I could envision the chaos of just living in a foreign country, yet the joy of finding home wherever you are. I highly recommend this wonderful book!
April 1, 2025
As a fellow FAO wife I was transported back to some of our own adventures on the African Continent. Thank you for sharing your journey! Can relate to mal d'Afrique! We had a total of 6 years on the continent (Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and DRC). Our lives have never been the same! We retired from the Army 12 years ago... thank you for steering me down memory lane!
January 5, 2024
A great read. Julie brings us into the heart of her unique experiences and makes us feel part of it, too. Told with warmth, humor, and a great sense of not taking herself too seriously, Dispatches from the Cowgirl paints a picture you'll not soon forget.
December 25, 2022
Loved reading about your adventures in Africa. Would live to see some pictures of your homes and other interesting tidbits.
October 6, 2023
Good read
I loved the adventure and storytelling. At the end, I too, mourned the leaving of Africa as if I too had been there if only a little bit. Good read
I loved the adventure and storytelling. At the end, I too, mourned the leaving of Africa as if I too had been there if only a little bit. Good read
February 6, 2024
I enjoyed reading this book. Julie has shared part of her life living abroad with us. Wonderful adventure! I recommend reading her book!
Thank you Julie,
Jaimison
Thank you Julie,
Jaimison
September 2, 2025
well written
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews